Dollar Tree & Premier Yarn

It seems like a good deal, but how does it compare to other big box options?

The Crafter’s Square section of my local Dollar Trees has had all sorts of good stuff lately. Lots of DIY materials like wooden boxes and trays, tins and small containers, paints, and all kinds of glues, brushes, and tools. I’ve been picking up stuff as I’ve seen it but had skipped getting any yarn.

While I prefer natural fibers or blends, I’m definitely not a ‘yarn snob’ and have acrylic yarns and other synthetics in my own stash and use them regularly. The challenge for me was really that I didn’t the love colors or weights the Dollar Tree I normally go to had (they had some very vibrant green and gold and purple thick ribbon-like yarn, which I just don’t have a use for). But I went into another Dollar Tree while running errands a couple of days ago and they had a huge selection of worsted weight acrylic yarns in these muted pastels and I decided to pick up 4 skeins of Premier’s Just Yarn Worsted to play with.

Just Yarn Worsted is a yarn by Premier Yarns that looks like it’s sold exclusively at Dollar Tree. It’s a 100% acrylic yarn that comes in 60 gram skeins with 130 yards. It’s a number 4, worsted weight yarn. The colors I bought (ash, light pink, slate, and soft gold) are actually not listed on the website and the purchase option is to ‘find at your local Dollar Tree’. The label is pretty basic but the yarn didn’t feel super cheap or squeaky.

It has a texture that felt similar to the Red Heart Super Saver and Big Twist Value Worsted Yarns. I held this yarn with some Big Twist Value in my stash and it felt and looked really similar. The texture, twist, and thickness felt almos the same.

I’ve been working on a baby version of the Rhode Trip hat (just released; free pattern available on the blog here) so I decided to knit a sample with the slate yarn. I also knit a sample of the baby Rhode Trip hat out of the Big Twist Value in the eggplant color and I have to say I am legitimately surprised. The Premier Just Yarn looks like the Big Twist, but is actually softer and has a lighter feel.

And I ended up calculating the price per yard – and the Dollar Tree yarn is the least expensive when compared to the Joann Fabric prices for Red Heart Super Saver ($3.69 for 198 g, 364 yards) and Big Twist Value Worsted ($3.49 for 170 g, 380 yards) yarns (for those that are new here, this is who I am – I’m the type that wants to know whether or not I’m getting a good deal!). It’s a tiny difference (fractions of a penny) but I would have suspected you would pay more at the Dollar Tree because you’re getting a smaller quantity. It turns out that at least for the Premier yarn option, Dollar Tree is really good deal if you’re looking for a basic yarn.

All in all, if you work with acrylic yarn, this is a pretty good option. The price is right and the quality seems fine based on the small project I tried out. The challenge would be finding the color (or colors) you want for a project; but if you’re looking for just a little bit of yarn to experiment with or you happen to hit the jackpot at your Dollar Tree, I wouldn’t hesitate to pick this up.

If you’ve found some interesting yarn at your local Dollar Tree, I’d love to know what you’ve found. Leave a comment below!

Happy Knitting,

Kara